Brilliance From Holmes and Harrison Seal Steelers’ Sixth Super Bowl

It wasn’t the best Super Bowl ever, but it had the best sense of drama. Each half’s final minute featured Pittsburgh Steelers touchdowns for the ages, among the most exciting and unlikely scores in the history of the championship game. The Steelers’ fans, owner, coach and players, off the field, may embody the blue-collar work ethic that was already pounded into cliché the last time we saw them on the sport’s biggest stage. But on the field, their players can produce the most breathtaking form of football, and they did enough of it to just barely hold off the Arizona Cardinals, 27-23, to win a league-high sixth Super Bowl title.

“There were so many great plays, too many to remember,” Joe Posnanski writes in the Kansas City Star. “There was Arizona receiver Larry Fitzgerald catching the ball over the top of a Steelers defender. There was Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger running around and throwing good passes while dragging Cardinals defenders the way the honeymoon car drags tin cans. There was Pittsburgh’s James Harrison making what might go down as the most remarkable play in Super Bowl history, a 100-yard interception return that ended the first half, a stumbling, rambling, teetering masterpiece that seemed to start and stop seven different times but did not stop until he leaped helmet-first into the end zone. And there was Fitzgerald one more time — no receiver has ever dominated a playoffs the way Fitzgerald has dominated this one — and he caught the pass over the middle, sprinted the last 64 yards, scored the touchdown that gave the amazing Arizona Cardinals a three-point lead with 2:37 remaining.”

And then Posnanski recounts the final memorable moment, the one that won it all for the Steelers — a perfect throw from Roethlisberger, with 35 seconds left, to the back right corner of the end zone. He lofted it over three Cardinals in the area, and into the hands of game MVP Santonio Holmes, whose hands extended from the top of his 5-foot-11 frame as the bottom, his toes, tapped the very edge of the sideline. On 12 of the 13 prior Steelers plays within the Arizona 10-yard line, the Cardinals’ defense — suddenly stout in the playoffs — held firm, yielding only a touchdown run from one yard out. It took perfection to beat it.

It was the Holmes catch Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan had in mind when he wrote the following, which could have applied to any of the game’s sterling plays: “These are the moments when coaches could just as easily be watching from Neptune or Mars,” Ryan writes. “This wasn’t about coaching. This was about skill, athleticism, and trust.”

These virtues lifted Holmes to the sport’s summit from his humble roots. Before the game, he talked about his prior careers of rabbit catching, at ages seven and eight, with Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and his drug dealing, at age 10, with the Miami Herald’s Jeff Darlington. (Earlier this year, Holmes was suspended for having marijuana found in his vehicle, and his comeback may lend comfort to Michael Phelps, though sponsors’ reactions may not.) Now, Holmes can say he has the best Super Bowl catch ever, according to CBS Sports’ Gregg Doyel, who places heavy weighting on its game-winning nature.

It’s natural for Holmes to get the hardware and the Monday morning attention because of his timing. But Harrison’s play was even more crucial, and more impeccably timed. Holmes made his catch on second and six; had he dropped it, the Steelers would have taken another shot at the end zone, then lined up for a routine field goal to send a Super Bowl into overtime for the first time. Holmes’s catch also left the Cardinals with 35 seconds to work with, and it took a last-second fumble by Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner — and a questionably hasty review by booth officials — to prevent the Cardinals from taking one last shot at the end zone from inside Pittsburgh territory. The odds wouldn’t have been steep against Fitzgerald coming down with a Warner-tossed jump ball.

More Super Bowl Coverage

The Wall Street Journal’s Super Blog continued its coverage all weekend, with live-blogging from the game and analysis from Ogilvy & Mather’s Chris Wall on Super Bowl commercials as they air.

Harrison, though, picked off a Warner pass that would otherwise have either fallen incomplete, and allowed the Cardinals to tie up the game before halftime, or been caught for a go-ahead touchdown. Then he rumbled for 100 yards, the most on a single play in Super Bowl history, when 99 yards wouldn’t have sufficed. Had Fitzgerald brought him down at the one instead of just across the goal line, the half would have ended on the play with the Steelers up by just three points, which wouldn’t have withstood Arizona’s furious comeback.

“I’ve seen, up close, every play of every Super Bowl,” veteran Miami Herald columnist Edwin Pope writes. “Just good luck, but it at least provides a frame of reference. And the idea here is that no other play in any Super Bowl could even come close to Harrison’s for combined brilliance and impact.”

Had Holmes dropped the ball, or failed to drop a toe, or had Warner’s Hail Mary connected, and Arizona had held on to win, you’d be reading a lot more about the Cardinals defense, surely the subject of at least one column that was written hastily in the fourth quarter and then more hastily scrapped. In the 41 minutes between Pittsburgh’s first offensive touchdown and the game-winning drive that produced its second, the Steelers’ six possessions ended in three punts, a field goal, an interception and a safety. The Cardinals were outscored by just 3-2 on those drives, which, including penalties against both sides, gained just 107 yards on 35 plays.

You’d also be reading a lot more about Fitzgerald and Warner. The receiver’s biggest first-half play was the near-tackle of Harrison, as Pittsburgh’s focus on shutting down Fitzgerald worked. Arizona should have gone earlier to their best player, Dan Pompei writes in the Chicago Tribune. Fitzgerald nonetheless finished the game as the holder of new records in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in a single postseason — and, for the record, his sportswriting father didn’t cheer when Larry, Jr, scored.

Warner, meanwhile, “became the first man to throw for 300 yards in three different Super Bowls,” Sean Keeler writes in the Des Moines Register. “At one point in the fourth quarter, he completed 10 straight passes. He rallied the Cardinals from a 20-7 deficit to a 23-20 lead with 2:02 remaining in the game. Warner was so close to the Vince Lombardi Trophy, he could smell the varnish. He was on the verge of orchestrating the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in the Super Bowl history. That is, until Santonio Holmes went out and made the greatest catch in Super Bowl history.” It was the third time Warner watched from the sidelines at a Super Bowl as a lead he built was threatened in the game’s final minutes, Sports Illustrated’s Arash Markazi writes.

What did it all add up to? Most bullish on the game is St. Petersburg Times columnist Gary Shelton: “In a hundred years, they will talk about the finest Super Bowl of them all.” San Jose Mercury News columnist Tim Kawakami and the Wall Street Journal’s Reed Albergotti aren’t so sure, noting all the penalties and occasionally sloppy play. (Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock thinks too many of those calls went against the Cardinals.) Yet what will remain from the game are the fourth-quarter twists and the individual plays. “If there was a script for what happened in Tampa then one can only assume it was written by a particularly desperate scab during the recent writers’ strike, because the storylines to this game stretched the bounds of credulity,” Paolo Bandini writes in the Guardian.

Hollywood would have been happy with either team winning — the Cardinals, led by the likeable Warner, were among the most unlikely Super Bowl teams in history, while the Steelers thoroughly like each other and enjoy their work, Sports Illustrated’s Peter King writes.

“One of the heroes of the game nearly became a bus driver,” Mike Bianchi writes in the Orlando Sentinel. “The owner of the team walks to work every day. The fans of the team drink Iron City beer, wave dish towels and ignored the slumping economy to make their pigskin pilgrimage and turn this Super Bowl into a Sunshine State version of the Steel City. This is why America should celebrate now that Pittsburgh is the home of more Super Bowl championships than any franchise in the history of pro football: Because the players are hungry, the owner is humble and the fans are loyal. What more could you want out of the NFL’s champion of champions? And what more could you want from a Super Bowl?”

* * *

NBC’s coverage lived up to the game’s grandeur, Garth Woolsey writes in the Toronto Star: “It took all of the interpretative powers of the great on-air combo of Al Michaels and John Madden to stay on top of what will rate as one of the most eventful and suspenseful games of the Roman-numeralled series.” However, New York Post sports-media critic Phil Mushnick finds some things not to like, including the failure to point out a boneheaded play by the game’s lauded MVP.

In the pregame coverage, one media highlight was the Detroit NBC affiliate’s decision to run a disclaimer every time the national station put former Lions general manager Matt Millen on screen to offer analysis, as noted by Steve Schrader in the Detroit Free Press. And among the lowlights of pregame coverage was, well, much of it, according to San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler’s harrowing account of his journey through the mindless chatter, starting in the morning.

* * *

Only a superb Super Bowl could outclass the championship match that started Sunday off: Rafael Nadal’s five-set victory over Roger Federer at the Australian Open, as noted in Sunday’s Fix.

The emotional ceremony afterwards was marked by Federer’s tears and both men’s class and dignity. This crying Federer was different from prior years’, Richard Hinds writes in the Sydney Morning Herald: “At times, it had been difficult to tell which of Roger Federer’s rivalries had been the greater. With Rafael Nadal, to determine who was the best tennis player on earth. Or with Victoria Falls, to determine which natural wonder was the greatest waterworks. The tears Federer shed at the victory ceremony in 2006 had been another endearing trait of this universally loved and respected champion. They revealed that, despite his unruffled demeanour, the Swiss felt the massive expectations created by his genius. That he appreciated his place in history. That his titles were felt, not merely accumulated. However, when Federer wept early yesterday morning, he betrayed quite different emotions. Disappointment. Frustration. Bewilderment. The understandable, even touching response of a man for whom failure had, until the past year, been caused only by the red kryptonite of Roland Garros. Even after defeats at the Australian Open and Wimbledon last year, the lingering effects of illness had provided an alibi.”

“‘I have always liked the competition more than the tennis,’ Nadal, 22, said recently, and maybe here we have the key to today’s result and all those other victories over the Swiss master,” Jon Henderson writes in the Guardian. “Although it must be a difficult choice, you suspect Federer prefers the tennis to the competition — and why wouldn’t he with a game as polished and beautiful as his?”

With that game, he’s still going to tie Pete Sampras’s record of 14 Grand Slams, according to the Daily Telegraph’s Mark Hodgkinson, and even eclipse it, according to Nadal after the match.

– Tip of the Fix cap to readers Michelle Alessandri and Garey G. Ris.

Found a good column from the world of sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write to me at dailyfix@wsj.com and I’ll consider your find for inclusion in the Daily Fix.

Comments (5 of 37)

Hines Ward is alsome and I cant believe that Hines did that touchdown. I'm a steeler fan.

9:20 am February 7, 2009

cotton wrote:

what other sport can you hit another player with a fist and get a half yard penalty

2:33 pm February 5, 2009

Crying Cardinal Fans wrote:

I agree Harrison was extreme and should have received a penalty. But how about the cardinal player deliberately going after his knees on his block and the play before. That could have been career ending. I would have hit him too. Chop blocks are illegal. Get over it.

10:37 pm February 4, 2009

Kendall wrote:

Blah Blah Blah! Harrison is a beast! Dude shouldn't have tried to get up and the guy who was voted the Defensive Player of the Year (by the fans) wouldn't have busted him up. Second of all. Watch the replays. Holmes winning catch was more than a great catch. And John, Yes James Harrison would've tried that with anyone. There is Holding on every play in the NFL, there is an illegal punch thrown in every play. These guys will do what ever it takes to win. And that is what the Steelers did. They won. They won 6 superbowls. More than any other team. Talk your trash about the bad calling. Just like someone does in every superbowl. There is always someone that blames it on bad calls.. If you wanna talk to your kid about the bad stuff in the NFL talk to him about not cheating like the patriots. Or about not being a bad teammate like peyton manning. Manning blames his o- line every time he messes up. At least Ben Roethlisberger got his team down field and delivered a pass to win the super bowl, instead of getting all the way down there and choking and winning by three points like tom brady does.. Kurt Warner fumbled the ball. End of story. And i'm not bashing the cards. i'm bashing you people. I like the Cards. They hold three players that grew up in pittsburgh, two plays that went to Pitt and Penn State, and two Coaches from the Steelers. Whiz, and russ Grimm. so don't think i'm just bashing cards here. Oh well. Either way you look at it Pittsburgh won. They're 6 time superbowl champions. first to 3, first to 4, best to 5 and first to 6. All of you can cry. While you you do i will sit here and swing my terrible towel.

7:15 pm February 4, 2009

smart guy wrote:

that was not a catch by santoni homes and kurt warner was throwing the football in the final seconds of the game

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